Photo by Aila Boyd
Photo by Aila Boyd
Photo by Aila Boyd
Photo by Aila Boyd
By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
A groundbreaking ceremony was held last Wednesday at Gala in Eagle Rock for the new production assembly hall.
The project will start later this month. It is expected that it will open in the later half of 2020.
The 20,000-square-foot expansion represents a 20 percent increase to Gala’s current 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
“Maag Americas and our team at Gala is known for its outstanding customer support and high product quality,” Martin Baumann, vice president/general manager of Maag Group Americas, said. “With the expansion of our facility, there is significant opportunity to drive operational improvements for our systems. Our customers will benefit of such with shorter lead times.”
Gala will receive a $50,000 performance grant from Botetourt County to complete the multi-million-dollar expansion.
“We are excited to work with Gala on this most recent expansion,” said Dr. Richard Bailey, who represents the Fincastle District on the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors. “Gala has a very important role in providing jobs and prosperity in Botetourt County. We are proud to have an internationally operating high-tech manufacturing company as part of our Eagle Rock community.”
The additional facility will house an optimized new assembly facility and will allow larger systems, including high capacity centrifugal dryers, to be assembled and tested on site. Additionally, the space will allow the company to centralize and optimize laboratory operations, including customer or product traials, toll runs and product development.
“We, at Gala, are a proud member of the Botetourt County business community. With the support from the Maag Group and Dover Corporation, Gala will continue to invest in advanced manufacturing processes and infrastructure to ship high tech products all around the globe,” Baumann said.
Currently celebrating its 60th anniversary, Gala started operations in October 1959. Over 180 people are employed at its Eagle Rock site.
